The town where the ground is thawing

Walk down the main street and you will notice the doors. Some stick. Some swing open on their own. Several buildings lean at gentle angles, like they are listening to something underneath them.

What permafrost is

Permafrost is ground that stays frozen all year. Towns across the north were built on top of it, and for a long time it made a reliable foundation. As long as it stays frozen, it holds.

When it thaws, the ice inside it melts, the ground loses volume and the surface slumps unevenly. A building that sat level for a century can start to tilt in a few seasons.

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The town was built on ice. Now the ice is leaving.

How towns are adapting

Builders here have learned a set of tricks. New buildings sit on adjustable posts that can be jacked level each spring. Some are raised off the ground so cold air can circulate underneath. Older buildings get shimmed, braced and checked every year.

Living with uncertainty

Nobody here is panicking. People talk about it the way they talk about a long winter: practically, with a shared sense that it is a problem for everyone and that the work of fixing it is never quite finished.

The doors still stick. The town still holds its summer festival. And every spring a crew goes round with a level and a jack, putting things straight again, one post at a time.

LS

Written by

Leah Spence

Covers roads, weather and the small towns that live by both.

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